house Bill H.R. 1065

Should Congress Get Reports on Agencies' Use of Social Media in Security Clearance Investigations?

Argument in favor

Social media is an important source of information about people’s lives today. It’s important that it be included in security clearance investigations, and that Congress be informed about how social media is used in them.

Anyone seeking a security clearance should have a lower expectation of privacy in these sorts of background investigations. Today, social media is as much a part of our individual and collective identity as an official form of ID.

HOUSE Bill 1065 AKA - Social Media Use in Clearance Investigations Act
I’d be in support of this HOUSE bill H.R. 1065 AKA - the Social Media Use in Clearance Investigations Act of 2019, which would require the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to submit a report to Congress on the examination of social media activity during security clearance investigations.
Social media is an important source of information about people’s lives today. It’s important that it be included in security clearance investigations, and that Congress be informed about how social media is used in them.
SneakyPete......... 🤔🤷🏼‍♂️???🤷‍♀️🤔. 2*11*19..........

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Argument opposed

Agencies that are using social media in security clearance investigations should be responsible for reporting to Congress on their activities on their own. There shouldn’t be additional work put on OMB’s plate to report on agencies’ activities in this area.

Congress doesn't need security reports from agency background checks. This should stay within the agency issuing clearance. It should also be limited to what is public and not include anything that is not shared publicly

How exactly would an individual’s social media posts be scrutinized? The government needs to ensure that it doesn’t trample over anybody’s first amendment rights when its determining whether or not a person should be given security clearance using social media.

What is House Bill H.R. 1065?

This bill, the Social Media Use in Clearance Investigations Act of 2019, would require the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to submit a report to Congress on the examination of social media activity during security clearance investigations.

Impact

Cost of House Bill H.R. 1065

$500.00 Thousand

When this bill was introduced last Congress, the CBO estimated that implementing it would cost less than $500,000.

More Information

In-Depth: Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) reintroduced this bill from the 115th Congress to require the OMB to report to Congress on the examination of social media activity during security clearance investigations. Then-Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), who cosponsored this bill with Rep. Lynch last Congress, spoke in its favor on the House floor in March 2018:

“[I]n the private sector, if an employer is going to hire somebody, a lot of times they will do a Google search, they will check social media postings to try to learn a little bit more about this prospective employee. It may be hard to believe, but the Federal Government often fails to conduct a simple internet search on individuals before they are trusted with a security clearance. Publicly available social media is one of the best ways to understand an individual's interests and intentions, but our investigatory process still focuses on interviewing the applicant's family, friends, and neighbors. For over a decade, various agencies, including the Office of Personnel Management, have conducted studies and pilot programs to assess the effectiveness of social media checks in security clearance investigations. Congress has not been provided those results. What this bill will do is it will require these agencies to identify best practices so that we can use this going forward to make sure that the people who are employed by this government, armed with a security clearance, who have access to sensitive information that puts the security of the country at risk, that these are people whom we want to have there and they are not folks who have ulterior designs. A lot of times it is going to be much more informative to look at their publicly available writings than to talk to somebody who may have lived next door to them in an apartment 10 years ago. I think that this bill is overdue.”

The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform favorably reported this bill in the 115th Congress, writing in its committee report:

“[This bill] is a much needed first step in modernizing federal security clearance background investigations. In recent years, there have been several cases in which federal contractor employees with security clearances leaked classified information after previously sharing suspicious posts on publicly available social media sites. Two high profile examples are the cases of Edward Snowden and Reality Winner, both of whom were National Security Agency (NSA) insiders with access to very sensitive information. Examining the options available to implement these social media investigations will help inform and expedite security clearance re- form. A preliminary check of a subject’s social media could prove more effective than many current parts of clearance investigations. Over roughly the past decade, other agencies have created similar programs including the Army, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), and the NSA. Only some of the results of these programs are publicly available, and what is available does not contain clear analyses or conclusions. OMB oversees the security clearance system as a whole through its delegation of responsibility to the Suitability and Security Executive Agents (the Office of Personnel Management [OPM] and ODNI, respectively). OMB is thus well positioned to analyze and report on the results of the disparate pilot programs, allowing Congress to understand what worked previously and what needs improvement.”

“Social media has become an integral--and very public--part of the fabric of most American's daily lives. We cannot afford to ignore this important open source in our effort to safeguard our secrets--and our nation's security."

AKA

Social Media Use in Clearance Investigations Act of 2019

Official Title

To provide for a study on the use of social media in security clearance investigations.

Anyone seeking a security clearance should have a lower expectation of privacy in these sorts of background investigations. Today, social media is as much a part of our individual and collective identity as an official form of ID.

HOUSE Bill 1065 AKA - Social Media Use in Clearance Investigations Act
I’d be in support of this HOUSE bill H.R. 1065 AKA - the Social Media Use in Clearance Investigations Act of 2019, which would require the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to submit a report to Congress on the examination of social media activity during security clearance investigations.
Social media is an important source of information about people’s lives today. It’s important that it be included in security clearance investigations, and that Congress be informed about how social media is used in them.
SneakyPete......... 🤔🤷🏼‍♂️???🤷‍♀️🤔. 2*11*19..........

Donald Trump uses social media to reach his base and to anger those not of his base. The presidents tweets should be regarded as official communications by Trump. Trump manipulates people through social media. He has no boundaries or fact checks that would normally be used to verify statements. We need checks and balances on Donald Trump.

Congress doesn't need security reports from agency background checks. This should stay within the agency issuing clearance. It should also be limited to what is public and not include anything that is not shared publicly

Anyone wanting clearance knows that their life is going to be scrutinized and should either be okay with that or they shouldn’t be getting clearance. The republicans in the senate have made a mockery out of the clearance process by giving Krusner & others a Clearance when their backgrounds clearly DID NOT ACTUALLY ALLOW FOR A NORMAL CLEARANCE.

How exactly would an individual’s social media posts be scrutinized? The government needs to ensure that it doesn’t trample over anybody’s first amendment rights when its determining whether or not a person should be given security clearance using social media.

Social media has become an important part of people's lives. By reviewing their social media accounts, we get a well-rounded picture of w who a person is, sometimes catching things we otherwise might not see.

HELL YES, BUT UNTIL NOW AND "WE THE PEOPLE" HAVE ELECTED DEMOCRATS, THE REPUBLICANS HAVE BEEN TOTALLY UNINTERESTED IN THE FACT THAT TRUMP HAD TO HIRE SOMEOME TO GIVE HIS "BEST PEOPLE" SECURITY CLEARANCES THE SENIOR DEPARTMENT TOOK ONE LOOK AT TRUMP'S PEOPLE AND SAID HELL NO TO CLEARANCES. THIS IS GOING TO BE INTERESTING

Yes. This is common practice in the private sector, and every college kid is told to clean up their social media when they start interviewing. Who you are and what you state publicly is an important test of character.